#yearinbaking

Ingredients:

1/4 cup heavy cream 1/4 cup water 1 egg 1 tsp olive oil 1 tbsp sugar 1 tsp salt 1 tsp garlic powder 1/8th cup melted butter ¾ tsp rapid-rise yeast 2 cups white bread (or all purpose) flour 1/2 medium white onion 1 tbsp chopped sun-dried tomatoes

Instructions:

Sauté chopped onions and sun-dried tomatoes and set aside to cool. Mix water, egg, olive oil,  sugar, salt, garlic powder, and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the melted butter and flour to form dough. Kneed the dough for 10 minutes. Let rise until doubled in size. Mix in the chopped onion and sun-dried tomatoes. Create 6 buns. Place on prepared baking sheet and let grow for 30 minutes. Optionally, use knife to scissors to cut desired decorative patterns. Bake at 400F for 15 minutes with another pan filled with water to provide steam while baking.

2 cups white all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup sugar

7 g rapid-rise yeast

1/3 cup heavy cream

1/8 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/3 cup water + extra

Instructions:

1) For dough, either mix all the ingredients EXCEPT the cocoa powder in a bread machine using the dough cycle to completion, or Mix the dry ingredients, sifting the flour. Then, add the wet ingredients and mix until smooth. Kneed dough for 15 minutes and let rise until doubled in size.

NOTE: depending on the humidity content of your flour, the recipe might require more water to become a kneadable dough. Add a little extra at a time until the all of the flour is incorporated into the dough.

2) Pound the dough down and divide in half.

3) Add the cocoa powder to one half of the dough and mix until homogeneous (or at least until marbled, if the dough is too difficult to manage).

4) Use a rolling pin and roll the white dough into a rectangle less than 1/4 inch (.5 cm) thick. Repeat for the brown chocolate dough.

5) Place the chocolate dough rectangle on top of the white dough rectangle and use the rolling pin again to spread the dough until it is less than 1/4 inch (0.5 cm) thick.

NOTE: If you want, spread melted butter or vegetable oil on top of each rectangle before assembling to make the layers more tearable after baking.

6) Roll this rectangle into a sausage shape. Roll it on a flat surface until the sausage is 1 inch in diameter.

7) Using a sharp knife, cut it into disks about 1/2 inch thick. And allow it to grow until doubled in size.

8) Bake at 400F (200C) until the white dough is golden brown.

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup sugar

10g rapid rise yeast

2 tbsp water

2/3 cup unflavored/unsweetened yogurt

1 egg

1/3 cup melted butter 

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

For Glaze:

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp soymilk (or regular milk)

Instructions:

Either use bread machine dough cycle to mix all ingredients EXCEPT the cocoa powder, OR mix water, yogurt, egg, and butter in a mixing bowl. Add the salt, sugar, yeast. Mix until homogenous. Add the flour slowly until combined. Kneed for 15 to 20 minutes. Let rise until doubled in size.

Punch down and divide the dough into 3 equal portions (by weight). Add the half of the cocoa powder to each of the first two portions and mix until integrated. Leave the third portions as vanilla. The amount of cocoa powder can be varied to taste.

Roll each of the portions into a 24 inch (60 cm) strand. Line the three strands up and braid into a single long braid.

On the baking surface, curl the braid into the desired shape, in my case, a circle. Allow to grow until doubled in size.

Bake at 350F or 175C until vanilla strand is golden. Take out of oven and glaze. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before enjoying so that the glaze can set.